Participants undergo a baseline 18F-FLT-PET/CT scan followed by a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan prior to chemotherapy. These scans are repeated in approximately 2 to 3 weeks, at the end of the first cycle of chemotherapy to derive a standardized uptake value (SUV) of 18F-FLT, which is calculated from the ratio of radioactivity concentration within a region of interest, and the injected dose at the time of injection, divided by body weight. The SUVmean averages the radioactivity values within a region of interest.

Participants undergo a baseline 18F-FLT-PET/CT scan followed by a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan prior to chemotherapy. These scans are repeated in approximately 2 to 3 weeks, at the end of the first cycle of chemotherapy to derive a standardized uptake value (SUV) of 18F-FLT, which is calculated from the ratio of tissue radioactivity concentration within a region of interest, and the injected dose at the time of injection, divided by body weight. The SUVmax measures the maximum radioactivity values within a region of interest.

Core needle biopsies (CNB) are obtained after completing imaging studies at baseline and approximately 2 to 3 weeks later, after the first cycle of chemotherapy. These tissue samples are then used to measure expression of the cell proliferation marker Ki-67, by manually counting percentage positive immunostained cells, denoted the labeling index (LI).

The Spearman's rank correlation coefficient was computed by ranking the data and using the ranks in the Pearson product-moment correlation formula. In case of ties, the averaged ranks were used.

The Spearman's rank correlation coefficient was computed by ranking the data and using the ranks in the Pearson product-moment correlation formula. In case of ties, the averaged ranks were used.